Massachusetts Jewish Ledger • August 14, 2020 • 24 Av 5780

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INSIDE this week

Crates

Many Jewish groups – political and religious – have aligned on the issue of the right to vote this year and are lobbying for widespread mail-in voting. In doing so they are butting heads with the Trump administration -- and the president himself, who frequently makes claims, without evidence, that mail-in votes are susceptible to fraud. PAGE 16

E: ashleyg@bsfcpas.com www.bsfcpas.com

WORCESTER

SPRINGFIELD

Metropolitan Area

CANDLE LIGHTING HAVDALAH

Aug 14 7:35 p.m. Aug. 15 8:42 p.m.

Aug 21 7:25 p.m. Aug. 22 8:32 p.m. Aug 28 7:14 p.m. Aug. 29 8:21 p.m. Sept

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

8 incredible Israeli shows you may not have heard of

With the beginning of a tumultuous new decade, there have been some silver linings – it’s pretty clear that Israel is dominating the global television space today. Not even a pandemic can stop Israel from coming out on top.

BY BRANDON SCHUSTER

It’s no secret that for more than a decade now, Hollywood has turned toward Israel to look for new show formats that could be adapted well for English-language audiences. Award-winning hit series adapted from Israeli shows, like HBO’s In Treatment and Showtime’s Homeland, have helped Israel become the third-largest content exporter in the U.S. over the past decade, just behind the U.K. and the Netherlands, an incredible and unlikely feat for such a small country, and one that only just introduced commercial television to its citizens as recent as the ‘90s.

Successful U.S. series with major Israeli ties – including Netflix’s Unorthodox and HBO’s Euphoria – recently received a slew of Emmy nominations. Unorthodox landed the coveted nomination for best limited series and both shows saw their leading actresses, Shira Haas and Zendaya, nominated alongside major stars.

Yet when Israeli television is mentioned today, one of two shows usually follows in the conversation: Fauda or Shtisel. These shows have become bona fide and critically adored hits on Netflix, well before the pandemic. In particular, the global success of Shtisel, five years after the show first aired in Israel, has led the beloved series about a haredi Orthodox family to be renewed for a new season that is currently shooting in Israel.

So what is it about Israeli shows that are so appealing and winning over millions of viewers from around the world? Even with smaller budgets to work with, Israeli series offer a unique cinematic appeal that most other television shows don’t have. The lack of budget has allowed for more focus on incredibly rich character development, brought to life by the Israeli and Palestinian talents behind and in front of the camera,

that’s almost always rooted in conflict, a common theme that people who live in this Middle Eastern region face on a daily basis.

At the end of the day though, Israeli shows have one thing that most other shows around the world don’t necessarily have – chutzpah (even if that word has a completely different meaning in the Jewish state). Israeli series aren’t afraid to push the envelope and “go there.” And they’re certainly not afraid to be critical of their own country and downright controversial at times either. Look no further than the debate and controversy that HBO’s Our Boys spurred around the world (more on that below).

As COVID-19 has shut down production sets, North American broadcast networks and streaming platforms have been looking abroad to fill the void for new content in the coming months. A number of Israeli series have certainly benefited from this. In recent weeks, as a result, we’ve seen streaming platforms buying the international rights to and signing on as co-producers for some of Israel’s top series. Apple TV+ alone has added an unprecedented five Israeli productions and adaptations to its roster in recent months, including a limited series about Hedy Lamarr starring Gal Gadot, which was originally supposed to air on Showtime.

We’re at a very exciting point now when audiences and critics around the world are starting to discover that there are other fantastic Israeli series worthy to binge on beyond just Fauda and Shtisel. Here are eight Israeli shows that you might not have heard of yet – and that you should definitely start watching right now. Six of these shows are currently available for streaming here in North America, along with two other highly anticipated shows that you’ll be able to stream very soon.

STREAMING NOW:

False Flag (Hulu)

In this high-paced espionage and conspiracy thriller, five seemingly ordinary citizens find

themselves wrapped up in the high-profile kidnapping of an Iranian government minister from his Moscow hotel room. The only catch is that they all claim that they weren’t even in Moscow and that they do not work for the Mossad.

After False Flag premiered to roaring success at the Berlinale Film Festival, Hulu scored the exclusive U.S. streaming rights for the anthology series. But stateside, it largely flew under the radar until recently. Many viewers have discovered the show in recent months after a handful of TV critics started pushing False Flag as a quality quarantine binge suggestion. Apple TV+ also recently bought the rights to produce an English-language adaptation called Suspicion, starring Academy Award nominee Uma Thurman. Filming for the new show started in March but was suspended during its first week of shooting due to the pandemic.

Stockholm (Topic / CBC)

When the front-runner for the Nobel Prize in Economics is found dead in his bed, his four closest friends scramble to keep him “alive” in the increasingly hectic days leading up to the big announcement. This Weekend at Bernie’s meets Grace and Frankie series is based on the popular novel by Noa Yedlin and has been a huge hit in Israel, where it airs on Kan 11. The cast of this hilarious dark comedy is also comprised of Israeli acting royalty, including Sasson Gabai (The Band’s Visit) and Tikva Dayan (The Golden Girls).

Stockholm was the first-ever Israeli show selected to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it earned a ton of buzz and critical raves. Shortly thereafter, the CBC, home to the Emmynominated hit Canadian series Schitt’s Creek, scooped up the rights to stream the Hebrew language show during its fall premiere season. In the U.S., when the new streaming platform Topic launched a few

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Learning in a Box

Activity boxes open up Jewish learning, STEM, and fun to kids and parents

BY STACEY DRESNER

WESTERN Mass. - It has been a long summer for the parents of small and school-aged children, many of whom are exhausted from trying to keep their kids engaged while they themselves work from home during the ongoing Covid19 pandemic.

In Western Mass., several Jewish agencies have developed specialized sets of activities “in-a-box” that are not only fun for children, but also include important opportunities for learning.

When Sara Bedford, the New American Program Director at Jewish Family Services of Western Mass. approached the Springfield Jewish Community Center with the idea to create activity boxes for refugee and low-income youth in the area, JCC leadership jumped at the chance to collaborate, especially since the JCC’s physical camp program was closed this summer due to Covid.

The result was Camp-in-a-Box.

By early July, two rooms in the JCC were filled with 400 cardboard boxes packed with Campin-a-Box activity materials.

With a generous grant from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts to JFS, along with support from HIAS, The Philanthropic Initiative of Boston (TPI), the Jewish Endowment Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts, the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and PJ Library Western Massachusetts, as well as many other local partners, sponsors, and volunteers, JFS and the JCC combined resources to create the boxes.

“This was a real labor of love for our staff to make sure the kids had something to do over the summer,” said Michael Paysnick, executive director of the Springfield JCC.

While the JCC distributed boxes to JCC summer day

campers who missed out on camp this summer, the JFS adapted approximately 250 of the boxes for its refugee and low-income children. Some of the other JCC boxes went to PJ Library families via the Jewish Federation.

Educational subscription boxes for children have been around for a while – with specialized boxes offering kids packaged deliveries of arts & crafts, STEM projects, even food and meal kits for young cooks.

In a world where technological devices rule, all of these cardboard activity boxes seem to be welcome addition to many families hunkering down during the pandemic.

“We are all in this kind of bubble where we’re looking for solutions to being at home with kids… Parents are now feeling – the term is -- ‘Zoomed out,’” laughed Nora Gorenstein, development officer for the Jewish Federation of Western Mass., and the parent of two small daughters. “With younger children especially, we’re trying to limit screen time … We can do these activities with our kids, in whatever format, no matter who is watching the kids, whether that’s a caretaker, or the grandparents or the parents.”

Inside each box is a camp guide listing the activities, including scavenger hunts, lessons on animals and nature, making kaleidoscopes and origami, a plantfocused project with seeds, designing t-shirts, and a Frisbee game (with a Frisbee in each box).

JFS brought in refugee youth expert Susan Tuberville to help adapt the boxes for refugee children. This included translating activities into Nepali and Swahili, so that New American parents would be able assist and participate with their children. There are also English language development activities to help the children work on their language skills.

“New American parents struggled at the outset of the summer just as other parents did – they were worried about their kids and how to help them learn and have fun in the time of COVID-19,” said Bedford. “Many parents also had big barriers to contend with – smaller budgets, parents who cannot work from home, and limited English or digital literacy skills. JFS and the JCC teamed up to help parents overcome these barriers and make sure that every New American kid had something to look forward to each day of summer – even amidst Coronavirus.”

The first box went out to families in the middle of July. The second box, featuring more than 20 new activities -- and a soccer ball – went out to families on Aug. 6.

IN MEMORIAM

Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro was spiritual leader of Sinai Temple for 28 years

BY STACEY DRESNER

SPRINGFIELD – When Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro retired as spiritual leader of Sinai Temple in Springfield in 2016, he stayed in Longmeadow, the town that he and his wife Marsha had called home since 1988.

After 28 years at Sinai, Rabbi Shapiro said he was still inspired by his vocation, but thought it was better for the congregation to have a fresh change in leadership.

“I think it would be really good for the congregation to turn a page. A new rabbi would be good, I think, for the congregation. I have been the rabbi for a generation, so it is good for there to be change,” he told the Jewish Ledger back then.

“I still love this job and I love what I do. And I love the opportunity to be creative with programs and to be present with people and to visit with them and to innovate… I’m still excited and enthusiastic about the whole area of Jewish living, Jewish leadership and what rabbis can do to advance Jewish living at this time.”

He was buried on July 24 in his hometown of Toronto. He is survived by Marsha, his wife of nearly 48 years and his sons, Daniel and Jordan.

“Rabbi Shapiro was beloved by the members of this community for his leadership, his kindness, and his wisdom,” said Rabbi Jeremy Master, Rabbi Shapiro’s successor at Sinai Temple. “He was there for congregants in the happiest times and in the saddest times. It was very painful for congregants to hear of the death of someone who was part of their families’ most significant lifecycle moments. Personally I felt warmly welcomed by Rabbi Shapiro when I moved here to be his successor. We met regularly and I very much enjoyed having the opportunity to get to know him.”

Ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1977, Rabbi Shapiro was a social work intern for Jewish Family Service in Cincinnati as part of his rabbinic studies. He also graduated from the Pastoral Counseling Program at the Post Graduate Center for Mental Health in New York City.

He began his career in the rabbinate as an associate

CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

Online or in-person?

SAFETY IS THE FIRST PRIORITY FOR THE HIGH HOLIDAYS

BY STACEY DRESNER

Rabbi Valerie Cohen of Temple Emanuel Sinai in Worcester began thinking about High Holiday services at her synagogue right after Passover, spurred on by concern about Covid-19.

“We started thinking about it early, earlier than I’ve ever thought about the High Holidays before,” Rabbi Cohen said.

In early June, the TES board made the decision that High Holiday services this year would be virtual.

“The decision was made because nobody knew what was going to happen and we could either spend a tremendous amount of energy pivoting if we needed to, or we could spend a tremendous amount of energy doing a really good job planning something that we knew we would be able to do no matter what.”

“We have been exploring what we can do in person safely…We haven’t done anything in person yet, although we’re working on it and I’m hoping that by the end of the month we will have an in-person gathering,” she said. “If that goes well, then we might be able to do an in-person gathering between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur that has a High Holiday element to it. We are planning for what I would call a drive-in shofar blowing experience – a drive-in in our parking lot. I think the value of hearing the shofar is one of the most important things that people want and need on the high holidays… And I think we are going to do it on the afternoon of the second day of Rosh Hashana.”

“We are working hard to plan services with the acknowledgment that we are in a different venue,” said Rabbi Cohen. “We are not going to plop what we have done in the past into an online service.”

Like Temple Emanuel Sinai, most, if not all Reform and Conservative congregations will be holding Zoom and live-streamed Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services this year.

Congregation Beth Israel in Worcester, which is Conservative, will be holding shortened 2- to 3-hour live-streamed Rosh Hashana services and abridged live-streamed Kol Nidrei, Yom Kippur, and Neilah services.

On the evening of July 29, Erev Tisha B’Av, Rabbi Aviva Fellman of Congregation

Beth Israel led the congregation’s first in-person service at the synagogue since the Covid outbreak. Sixteen members attended while the service was Zoomed to 30 households. (See page 7 “On Tisha B’av, The Rabbi Cried Happy Tears.”)

“I refuse to make our community choose between being part of our community by coming in person and their safety by staying home and so it is of paramount importance that we offer, especially as we have started opening for limited in-person gatherings, streaming or zoom (service dependent) as well,” said Rabbi Fellman.

“I work tirelessly to break down barriers to inclusion and foster acceptance of all in religious spaces and this is no different. We do not need to carry the High Holy Days alone and this is a way to help engage and be “home” during the holidays.”

Congregation Beth Israel will allow members to register for Ark visits during the month of Elul, so that they can offer personal prayers, a custom of the temple’s Neilah service.

Orthodox synagogues, like Congregation B’nai Torah in Longmeadow, will not be holding online or electronically transmitted services on the High Holidays for reasons of halacha. But B’nai Torah will be offering a couple of different in-person service options for its members.

B’nai Torah has sent out a survey to all of its members sharing the options and asking members what services they would like to attend.

Depending on how many register for the services, outdoor and tented services might be possible.

They are also asking members who have shofars to gather safely around town for live shofar blowing in the second day of Rosh Hashana.

Due to state guidelines on indoor events – 10 people per thousand square feet -- B’nai Torah must limit the number of members at each indoor service at its Eunice Drive synagogue to 80 in both the sanctuary and attached social hall. Those attending must wear masks and maintain 6-feet of social distance.

Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe said they are making some concessions this year with regard to concerns about Covid.

“Not only are we following all the state guidelines and so on… we have made it clear to our membership that if their doctors say

there is a degree of danger they shouldn’t come and they should pray at home. We are doing a lot of things to facilitate. One is, based on how people respond to our survey, if I have enough people in an area we can do shofar services in parks or open areas. If I get enough people from a neighborhood say, I can walk over. For people who are truly homebound we’ll show up and they can open their window and hear it from a safe distance.”

Making that even safer, the shofar is blown only on the second day this year, because you don’t blow the shofar on Shabbat, upon which the first day of Rosh Hashana falls.

In addition, because the Kol Nidre prayer is actually recited before Yom Kippur starts, B’nai Jacob will be able to Zoom the prayer.

This includes services at its Eunice Drive building and its Sumner Avenue location in Forest Park, but space there is extremely limited.

There will be a traditional full service although shortened from the usual length as per Rabbinic guidelines regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The reason the service is so long on Yom Kippur is because there is liturgical poetry which is very beautiful in whatever language you say it, but because the time of exposure is a big issue, the service is going to be much shorter. Rabbi Yaffe also likes to hold “user-friendly” services “for those who aren’t necessarily familiar with Hebrew …an abridged version, much more explained and much more accessible.”

But holding such services on the busy High Holidays hasn’t always been easy.

“Now since the morning service, the primary service is so much shorter, in the afternoon we will be having the user-friendly service,” Rabbi Yaffee said. “Whether we have an outdoor service or a tent is dependent upon what people say in our comprehensive survey. That is up in the air right now.”

KOLOT

On Tisha B’Av, the Rabbi cried happy tears

BY RABBI AVIVA FELLMAN

Tisha B’Av marks a communal day of mourning for the Jewish people. It is a day on which we mark the destruction of the First Temple (by the Babylonians in 586 BCE), the Second Temple (by the Romans in 70 CE), multiple expulsions, and pogroms. The day is observed by reading from Eicha (Lamentations), sitting low to the ground, not wearing leather, refraining from food and drink. The whole tone of the day is solemn.

For the past 7 years, since moving to Worcester to serve the Congregation Beth Israel and community, my Tisha B’Av has started the same way. I have eaten an earlier dinner with my family, and then headed to shul for services and Eicha. This year was the same, only it felt so different. The evening service opened with these words:

V’hu rachum yechaper avon v’lo yashchit - God is compassionate and will wipe away sin, not wreak destruction,

V’hirbah l’hashiv apoh v’lo yair kolchamato - For again and again God acts with restraint, refusing to let rage become all-consuming,

Adonai hoseah hamelech yaanenu b’yom koreinu - Adonai-help us - surely our sovereign will answer us at the hour of our calling.

While these words start each evening service, last night, on a day of such intense observance of mourning and loss, they seemed much more poignant. The mourning and loss this year feels different and personal. We are mourning not only the Jewish historical events that pre-dated even the honored elders of our community but this year we are also mourning the loss of family, neighbors, and friends. As Tisha B’Av was beginning this year, the death toll from COVID-19 hit 150,000 in the US alone. We are mourning our sense of security and safety. We are mourning the sense of danger that permeates every interaction outside of our home. We are mourning the sense of brokenness in the structures that helped to make us feel secure- our routines, being able to see the faces of others, of seeing family, of gathering to celebrate and mourn, of singing, and of being able to hug others. There was and is a great sense of loss, and yet, when I got to the next words of the service, I started tearing, sobbing really – large, messy, happy tears. As I moved

through the service and started reciting the words of the Barchu, I could no longer hold back. Why? What was different? I felt such an overwhelming flood of emotion. These nine words were so familiar and yet felt so new. Maariv for Erev Tisha B’Av, the service that I was leading, was the first time in 4.5 months that we had gathered for services in person at the synagogue. (We officially closed the building on March 13th.) The Barchu prayer is only recited in the presence of a physical minyan and in the period since we closed the physical building and moved our community worship online, we have omitted it from all services.

It felt comforting, familiar, and special to recite the words and so new and fresh. Had it not been for the otherwise solemn tone of the day, I might have interrupted the service to recite a Shehechiyanu, a blessing that is said upon new experiences (including not having seen someone in over 30 days), but it was Tisha B’Av and it did not feel appropriate.

So I cried. I cried and I cried and I kept leading. As I teared into my mask, hoping that my voice would still carry over the microphone to the 16 congregants behind me in the room and hallway and to the 30 devices at home pictured on the screen in front of me, it made me realize how much I had really missed being able to daven (pray) with the support and voices of community.

Last night was not perfect and I don’t want to claim that it was. There were a few glitches that we will work through, although wonderfully far fewer than we expected. Technology and safety will always be a work-in-progress and we will continue to try and make the service, the space, and the streaming as smooth and clear as possible. We are indebted to the members of our synagogue family who have been calling Beth Israel their home and continue join us in community. Our Security/Health and Safety, Reopening, Facilities, Medical, and Ritual committees and task forces have been working tirelessly and then some to get us to this point with intention, caution, communication, drive, patience, and sensitivity. Our staff have kept the building and community operating and running often behind the scenes, I am appreciative of how resilient and supportive they have been.

This morning as I read Eicha on our Zoom Shacharit service, I had sad tears in my eyes. Zoom now feels so comfortable and normal and yet it does not compare

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to gathering in person. On Zoom, I can let my guard down a little. I don’t have to wear a mask. If bodies are getting too close to mine, I don’t feel that I need to recoil because those bodies live in the same house. And I can see the faces of others making it feel like a community. But it is no comparison to in-person. Last night reminded me of how much I had missed davening with our community, raising our voices in song, catching up and checking in with each other. It makes me want more and knowing that it is limited is hard.

The line that closes our Eicha reading (really second to last line that is repeated again at the end) is, “Take us back, O LORD, to Yourself, And let us come back;

Renew our days as of old!” Throughout the day of Tisha B’Av, there is a gradual shift as we rise from our mourning. I pray and long for the day when we can gather again regularly in-person. Until then, I will mourn that loss and rise to embrace the safe and secure routine that has become Zoom and work hard to continue to build ways for us to gather and build community even without the physical closeness and communal singing.

“See” you soon in-person or online.

Aviva Fellman is rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel in Worcester.

Around Massachusetts

Thanking our Healthcare Heroes and Feeding the Frontlines

WESTERN MASS. – When Covid-19 hit Western Mass., Suze Goldman knew she had to do something to help healthcare workers on the front lines who were working with Covid patients at their own risk. Goldman, a former president of the Jewish Federation of Western Mass. and a supporter of Rachel’s Table, the Federation’s hunger rescue and relief program came up with the initiative “Feeding the Front Lines” which provided essential health care workers with meals from local restaurants throughout Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin County. Through the initiative, Goldman sold 450 face masks for the benefit of Rachel’s Table, with the funds raised paying for the healthy lunches and dinners that were delivered to nursing homes and local hospitals like Mercy Medical Center, Jewish Geriatric Services-Lifecare, Reeds Landing, Governor’s Center and others. Sarah Maniaci, associate director of Rachel’s Table connected with Bobby Barkett, owner of The Kitchen, a restaurant in Longmeadow, who provided the sandwiches, chips, and fruit and distributed the meals. Zach Schwartz of Fusion Signs joined the effort by donating a percentage of his signs sold supporting our heroes to Rachel’s Table. The effort provided meals for the state police, firefighters and first responders in Franklin County, as well. Jodi Falk, director of Rachel’s Table coordinated bringing healthy lunches from Subway and Antonio’s to healthcare workers at Poets Seat Health Care Center, Charlene Manor and others. With funds raised including the generous donations from many supporters, approximately 900 meals were provided to workers on the front lines. Next, the initiative turned to essential health care facility and nursing home staffers and more funds were raised to produce gift bags containing gift cards for groceries at Stop & Shop. Judy Yaffe, a veteran Rachel’s Table board member coordinated efforts to deliver gift cards to area agencies. Shown below, Suze Goldman, right, delivering Rachel’s Table’s first batch of grocery gift cards as a token of appreciation to the health care team at Care One in East Longmeadow on July 22. Since then, grocery gift cards have been bestowed upon essential health care workers at several other healthcare centers and nursing homes in Hampden and Hampshire Country.

“It became a multi-pronged initiative that was just terrific,” Goldman said. “Everyone was so happy to contribute. It was the community

ERIC AND MARGIE

BERG TAKE COMMUNITY ON A VIRTUAL TRIP TO ISRAEL WITH JEWISH NATIONAL FUND-USA.

EAST LONGMEADOW -- With the latest predictions suggesting Israel’s tourism industry could lose up to $1.16 billion due to the COVID-19 crisis, Jewish National Fund-USA (JNF-USA) in Western Mass is helping Israeli tour guides through an innovative new ‘virtual travel’ initiative. In launching JNF Virtual Travel & Tours, the organization’s travel department is offering seats on virtual tour buses to some of Israel’s iconic and lesser-known travel destinations. Current itineraries include visits to the Old City of Jerusalem, Ayalon Institute, Akko, Be’er Sheva, and the JNF Sderot Indoor Recreation Center.

“As many of us continue social distancing due to the pandemic, I think our community has gained a greater appreciation for the rich calendar of in-person communal events that we once had, and will continue to have, when life slowly returns to normal,” said Eric Berg, JNF-USA Southern New England Campaign Chair. “Naturally, people miss interacting with each other which is why I believe our virtual tour initiative has been so successful.”

The virtual buses include seating for up to 22 participants. Each bus also includes a licensed Israeli tour guide and a professional JNF-USA staff member. A $50 per “Zoom window” registration fee covers one hour of touring per day over the weeklong visit which takes place Monday through Thursday for two hours during the afternoon. The first hour is for touring and the second hour provides an opportunity to debrief and socialize with a cocktail in hand. On Friday, participants will experience a beautiful pre-Shabbat experience between 4-5 p.m.

“We were delighted to lead our week-long tour of Israel because it enabled us to support Israel’s out-of-work tour guides while also providing our friends, family, and neighbors with an opportunity to connect with Israel and one another,” said Margie Berg. “I don’t think we could have anticipated how meaningful our virtual trip would be.”

To reserve a “seat” on a JNF-USA’s virtual tour, visit jnf.org/virtualtours.

Drive through produce

WORCESTER – On Aug. 5 and 12, Central Mass Chabad, in collaboration with Boston Area Gleaners of Waltham, distributed boxes of fresh produce to members of the community free of charge. “We must all work together to navigate turbulent times, for only together will we make sure that no one goes without,” said Rabbi Mendel Fogelman. Volunteers handed out boxes of fruit and vegetables to families at Chabad, 22 Newton Ave., and future weekly distributions are planned. Go to www.CentralMass.Chabad.com

Briefs

Jewish congressional candidate Alex Morse faces allegations of inappropriate relationships

BY PHILISSA CRAMER

(JTA) Alex Morse, the 31-year-old gay, Jewish progressive Democrat running to unseat a longtime congressman in Massachusetts is facing allegations that he had inappropriate relationships with students at local colleges. Morse is the mayor of the town of Holyoke.

The College Democrats of Massachusetts announced that the group would sever ties with Morse in a letter last week that charged that Morse used “his position of power for romantic or sexual gain” in relationships with college students, including at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he taught a course on urban government.

The university’s student newspaper, the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, first reported about the letter on Friday.

In a statement to the newspaper, Morse said he had exercised “poor judgment” in having relationships with college students.

“I want to be clear that every relationship I’ve had has been consensual,” he said. “However, I also recognize that I have to be cognizant of my position of power.”

The allegations come just weeks before Morse goes head to head in the Massachusetts primary with Richard Neal, a Democrat elected to Congress the year Morse was born. Morse told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency last month that he hoped to bring a different perspective to conversations about Israel within the progressive wing of the Democratic party.

“I think one can be critical of Israel and their actions without being anti-Semitic,” said Morse, who has been endorsed by the Justice Democrats political action committee and IfNotNow, a Jewish group opposing Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. “And as a young openly gay progressive Jew, I think I have a unique voice to lend in this conversation.”

Political insiders said he faced long odds competing with a longtime incumbent. But other progressive Democrats endorsed by the Justice Democrats political action committee have scored notable upsets in

recent primaries, including last week in Missouri where Cori Bush won a primary against William Lacy Clay, a congressman who has been in office for 19 years.

The most recent post on Morse’s Twitter feed is a retweet midday Friday from someone who recapped last week’s primary outcomes and wrote, “@AlexBMorse is next.” Shortly after that, the allegations broke in the student newspaper.

On Saturday, the paper reported that the university is investigating allegations that Morse had relationships with students while he taught at the school, in violation of its code of conduct for faculty. And one member of Holyoke’s City Council has called on him to resign as mayor.

Seth Rogen:

Israel should exist, but my critique of Jewish education stands

(JTA) – In a new interview, Seth Rogen said his comments about Israel being a bad idea for a state were made in jest but affirmed that he found his childhood education about the country, which he received through Jewish schools and camps, to be problematic.“I don’t want Jews to think I don’t want Israel to exist and I understand how they could have been led to think that,” the actor and comedian said on a Zoom interview with Haaretz reporter Allison Kaplan Sommer published Monday, August 3. “I was just not given a full picture of the situation and I understand it’s a wildly complex picture to give a child,” he said.

The interview came a day after Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog released a statement saying he had talked with Rogen about “the current situation in Israel,” and that Rogen had “apologized” for his comments. (The Jewish Agency is a nonprofit that works to bolster IsraelDiaspora relations.) Rogen told Haaretz that he did not tell Herzog that he could make details of their talk public. “I did not apologize for what I said. I offered clarity. And I think [Herzog] is misrepresenting our conversation,” Rogen told Haaretz

The new interview and ongoing conversation come nearly a week after Rogen discussed Israel on Marc Maron’s popular “WTF” podcast, and the pair’s comments sparked an outcry among many Jews. Rogen said he was “fed a huge amount of lies about Israel” as a child in Vancouver and that Israel’s organizing principle – grouping Jews together in one state – “doesn’t make sense.”

He clarified to Kaplan Sommer that the principle was “a joke I’ve heard Israelis make.” He also said that comedy inherently carries the risk of being perceived as offensive. “If you take any comedic monologue and treat it as though it is not based in humor, there’s probably some very questionable thoughts in there,” Rogen said.

Rogen, who reiterated to Haaretz his pride in being Jewish, also discussed “An

American Pickle,” his film that comes out this week. He was on site shooting the film in Pittsburgh when the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting occurred.

“It was, in a sense, very scary, but in another sense I remember thinking: I’m about to make the most Jewish movie I’ve ever made, probably the most Jewish movie that almost anyone’s ever made, in the wake of the most violent antisemitic attack in the history of America, in the same city. And there was a sense that it suddenly became much more important to do it. And any fear I had about how Jewish a movie it was, I honestly thought that if there was ever a time to double down on this, now was that time.”

Jewish, Black historical cemeteries vandalized in Virginia with Nazi symbol

(JTA) — Two historic cemeteries in Virginia, one Jewish and one African-American, were vandalized with graffiti featuring “777,” shorthand for the triskele hate symbol.

The vandalism was discovered Monday at Richmond’s Evergreen Cemetery and at the Sir Moses Montefiore Cemetery in Henrico County on the border with Richmond. The triskele, or triskelion, looks like three interlocking sevens and was one of many ancient European symbols appropriated by the Nazis and later by white supremacist groups, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The “777” stand-in for the symbol was spray-painted throughout the Montefiore Cemetery, which was founded in 1886 and is the burial place of many Jewish immigrants from the former Russian Empire. Evergreen Cemetery houses multiple African American leaders “from the post-Reconstruction and civil rights eras,” including Maggie Walker, the first African American woman to charter a bank in the United States.

“These acts of hate degrade and denigrate our way of life. They are designed to stoke fear in the hearts of both Jewish and Black communities. We stand together with our Black neighbors in proclaiming that these cowardly acts have not, and will not break us,” the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Israel offers Lebanon assistance after massive explosion

(JTA) — Israel has offered Lebanon humanitarian assistance after a massive explosion at Beirut’s waterfront killed at least 30 people and injured thousands. Israel’s defense minister Benny Gantz announced the offer on Twitter. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli army and at least one Israeli hospital also offered aid. Because Lebanon and Israel are

still technically in a state of war, the offers are being extended through third-party diplomatic channels. “Under the direction of Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel approached Lebanon through international defense and diplomatic channels to offer the Lebanese government medical humanitarian aid,” Gantz tweeted. “This is the time to rise above any conflict,” tweeted the spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, Hidai Zilberman.

Initial reports said the blast was in a warehouse packed with explosives and may have been triggered by a fire. Videos posted to social media showed the forceful blast cutting a wide swath of damage across Beirut, and area hospitals have been overwhelmed with the injured. Israeli authorities told multiple news organizations that the country had nothing to do with the disaster.

The explosion comes as the country is reeling from the coronavirus pandemic and an economic crisis that has accelerated unemployment and hunger.

In recent years, Israel has assisted and received assistance from neighbors that were formerly enemies, or with whom it has difficult relations.

4 men arrested for hanging ‘Hitler Was Right’ banner on bridge in Arizona (JTA)

– Four men were arrested for hanging a banner reading “Hitler Was Right” on a railroad bridge in Arizona. The men were seen hanging the banner on the bridge on Saturday morning, the NBC affiliate KPNX 12News reported. They were caught posing and taking pictures with the sign. The banner also included a link to a website that contained “bigoted and explicitly racist pronouncements,” according to the report. The Sheriff’s Office is not pursuing hate crime charges against the men, aged 27 to 38. They were charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing since the area is marked as “no trespassing.”

Three are from Arizona and one is from Oklahoma, according to the report.

“People who don’t have a strong enough sense of history or their own identity gravitate toward hate communities that give them this little hit, a feeling they’re accepted,” Paul Rockower, the executive director of the local Jewish Community Relations Council, told 12 News. “But unfortunately this leads down a path to nowhere.”

Camp-in-a-Box and More...

PJ Western Massachusetts is collaborating with Lander-Grinspoon Academy, the Jewish Community of Amherst, and the Springfield Jewish Community Center for three types of screen-free summer activity boxes.

These boxes are funded in part by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, and other sponsors.

In addition to the themed activities, families will be able to connect with us and our partners through Facebook and Zoom events.

Our summer activity box collection features camp and peace themed activities--with a Jewish twist--for children between the ages of 3 and 12. Earlier this summer, families with children ages 6-12 signed up to receive JCampin-a-Box. The box features art projects, sports and recreational activities, as well as STEM experiments.

Families with children ages 3-5 can sign up now to receive an LGA Special Edition JCamp-in-aBox with an integrated approach that connects Jewish values and art projects, sports and recreational activities; and STEM experiments.

Families with children ages 6-12 will be able to

sign up to receive our “Shalom” Kesher Crate activity box this month and pick up the first week of September—just in time for the high holy days! The crate will have 4-5 activities, including crafts, science explorations, outdoor activities and more.

Families who sign up for PJ Library will not only receive a FREE Jewish-themed picture book EVERY MONTH; families will also be able to opt in to exclusive activities, resources and events throughout the year.

Follow us at facebook.com/WesternMass and at instagram.com/PJLibraryWesternMass

Announcing our 2020 Annual Campaign

If you’ve been involved in community activities, you’ve seen our logo, but do you know how the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts benefits you?

• We provide allocations to local Jewish agencies and synagogues.

• We provide grants to local Jewish organizations through the Jewish Endowment Foundation.

• We provide free books to children through PJ Library Western Massachusetts.

• We organize events and empower female leaders through Women’s Philanthropy

• Our Rachel’s Table program reduces food waste, and provides food to those in need.

The Federation’s NextGen program is building the future of Jewish life in the Pioneer Valley.

The Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts has been supporting and sustaining vibrant Jewish life in Western Massachusetts for 94 years, through times of hardship and times of abundance.

Right now we are preparing to present the results of the first demographic study done in our community in over 50 years. This was a vital first step towards intelligent, strategic thinking about our path forward together. In cooperation with all the Jewish organizations in the area, we are creating a road map for our community’s future.

As always, we are here to help see individuals, families, and Jewish organizations through challenging times like these. Over the past four months, we have been working in partnership with local agencies to keep our institutions and our people safe and strong through the Healthy Community Emergency Fund.

In the face of these unprecedented challenges, and on the cusp of the community’s bright future, we need your help.

This is the time of the year when we begin our annual campaign fundraising. We recognize that these are unusual times, and we’re all struggling to adapt. Much is left to be done. We cannot do it without you. Your donation today to our 2020 Annual Campaign will help our people and our institutions not only to survive, but to thrive.

Our community needs you. Will you help us?

Milestones

GWYNETH McAVOY, daughter of David McAvoy and Cindy Biel McAvoy, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, Aug. 22. They are members of Congregation B’nai Shalom in Westborough.

ABIGAIL RADER, daughter of Alan and Jennifer Rader, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, Sept. 12. They are members of Congregation B’nai Shalom in Westborough.

ABBY ROSENFELD, daughter of Amy Rosenfeld and Andy Rosenfeld, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, Sept. 5. They are members of Congregation B’nai Shalom in Westborough.

ALEX SHAW, son of Andrew and Bree Shaw, will celebrate his bar mitzvah on Saturday, Aug. 22. They are members of Congregation B’nai Shalom in Westborough.

ZACH RUTHFIELD, son of Mark and Lori Ruthfield, will celebrate his bar mitzvah on Saturday, Aug. 29. They are members of Congregation B’nai Shalom in Westborough.

DEVAN SMITH, son of Jessica and Jared Smith, will celebrate his bar mitzvah on Saturday, Aug. 15. They are members of Congregation B’nai Shalom in Westborough.

Borenstein – Lemay

Jeffrey and Lydia Borenstein of Worcester happily announce the marriage of their daughter, Sandra Borenstein, to Brenden Lemay, son of Bernard and Elaine Lemay of San Antonio, Texas. The couple was married in an intimate ceremony on the beach on July 18, 2020 in West Dennis. The couple took a honeymoon to St. Lucia and they reside in Austin, Texas.

For answers to your questions, see our video at JGSLifecare.org/safety-is-our-priority/ or contact Mary-Anne at mschelb@JGSLifecare.org or 413-567-6211 x 2488

Ruth’s House Assisted Living – Sosin Center for Rehabilitation Leavitt Family Jewish Home - Spectrum Home Health & Hospice Care Wernick Adult Day Health Care - Genesis House for Independent Living 770 Converse St, Longmeadow, MA 01106 • www.JGSLifecare.org

Delight in the luxury of:

-Complimentary memberships to the West Hartford Senior Center, and Mandell Jewish Community Center (featuring aquatic pools).

-A fulfilling, independent lifestyle with numerous enrichment opportunities.

-A full calendar of safely-distanced activities and events.

-Close proximity to local shopping and entertainment.

-Fine Kosher Dining & valued Jewish customs and traditions.

-O utdoor gardens and natural landscaped Connecticut beauty.

-A unique culture of caring within an award-winning community.